Rabination

The day Yithak Rabin was assassinated by a fellow Jew, I was devastated. I coined a word both to honor him and to name a vital human possibility.

ra-bi-nate (rah-BEE’-nate). v. To pull back from the precipice of escalating conflict; to transform war into peace. ra-bi-nation. n. The act of transforming war into peace. ra-bi-nator. n. One who chooses to rabbinate.

Rabination proceeds from a base of strength, not weakness. The rabinator can break bones, but chooses not to; the rabinator can avenge slights, but chooses not to; the rabinator can fight and win, but chooses not to. Instead, the rabinator has the strength to step back from the precipice and transform war into peace.

Note to reader. If you find power in the words rabinate, rabination, and rabinator, please use them and pass them on to others. Words have the power to harm and to transform.

Thanks. Barry Oshry

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